1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for designing the control of a complete process which comprises a number of individual processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
The control of a complex technical installation or of a system (a complete process) comprises a number of smaller control units which are provided for certain parts (individual processes) of the installation or of the system. A first control unit for a first individual process is restricted in this case to this individual process. The same applies to a second control for a second individual process. Even if an interplay of the first control with the second control functions largely without errors, this does not guarantee that an error-free operation of the complete installation is still guaranteed with a slight modification of the first or of the second individual process. Thus, a small change in one of these processes or the addition of a third process can lead to conflicts and blocking between the processes which can only be empirically verified. In this context, it is possible that a faulty state of the complete process overcomes an empirical test and thus remains undetected. This is not acceptable, especially with regard to a critical installation with respect to safety since it must be guaranteed in every case that no unpredicted event occurs in the interplay of the processes.
Apart from the unauthorized states to be avoided, there are, in the sequence of a process, xe2x80x9cauthorized statesxe2x80x9d which should occur exclusively for the process if it is functioning correctly.
It is the object of the invention to specify a method and an arrangement for designing the control of a complete process in which it is (formally) ensured that there is no impediment to the individual processes and that only authorized states are occupied.
This object is achieved by a method for designing a control of a complete process which comprises a number of individual processes, the method comprising the steps of: identifying functionalities of the individual processes; performing a validation by automatically verifying an interplay of the functionalities in accordance with an input to the complete process, while not impeding each individual process during an operation, producing a validation result; and determining data for controlling the complete process from the validation result.
This object is also achieved by an arrangement for designing the control of a complete process, comprising a number of individual processes; and a processor unit configured to provide: a) identification of functionalities of the individual processes; b) a validation, by automatically verifying an interplay of functionalities in accordance with an input to the complete process, in a manner such that each of the individual processes is not impeded during an operation; and c) data from a result of the validation that is used for controlling the complete process.
Further developments of the invention include providing a method step of performing a sequence optimization. A step of producing data for the control in an executable code form may be provided, as may a step of controlling individual affected processes by a software unit which is one of the functionalities of the individual processes. One or more of the individual processes may be an impeding process, an impeding process being defined as such if one of the following conditions is met: an individual process is blocked by another individual process; and an individual process reaches an unauthorized state or a state endangering operation of the complete system. The inventive method may be applied to controlling individual processes of an automatic placement machine, and may also involve controlling a technical installation with data determined for controlling the complete process.
In more detail, the invention relates to a method for designing the control of a complete process which comprises a number of individual processes. In the method, functionalities of the individual processes are identified. Furthermore, a validation is performed by automatically verifying an interplay of the functionalities in accordance with an input to the complete process, to the effect that each individual process is not disturbed during the operation. From the result of the validation, data for controlling the complete process are determined.
An advantage of the method is that the step of validation ensures that each individual process can run undisturbed. A further advantage is that data is automatically generated for controlling the complete process. Thus, data for controlling the complete process are systematically generated with the aid of the method.
An embodiment is provided in which a sequence optimization is performed after the validation. Advantageously, individual processes can run undisturbed; furthermore, the several individual processes can run time-optimized if possible. It is the aim of the sequence optimization to carry out the performance of predetermined actions of the several individual processes in parallel and in the shortest possible time without disturbances.
A further development is that the data for controlling the complete process are determined in the form of an executable code. This ensures that the result of the validation and possibly of the sequence optimization flows completely automatically into the control of the complete process. For example, a program code written in the programming languages C or C++ is generated which initiates or ensures the control of the complete process.
In particular, the advantage becomes noticeable in the generation of executable code if functionalities of the individual processes are also provided in the form of respective program units. If a number of functionalities in each of a number of individual processes correspond to at least one program unit, the data which were generated in the form of executable codes are used for controlling the coordination of the individual program units or, respectively, the executable code uses the interfaces, e.g., function calls or method calls, provided by the program units.
It is also a further development that an individual process is disturbed if one of the following conditions is met:
a) The individual process is blocked by another individual process. In the case of the blocking, two individual processes wish to use one physical resource in different ways. In such a case, blocking occurs since the resource cannot meet the requirements of both individual processes at the same time.
b) The individual process reaches an unauthorized state or a state endangering the operation of the complete system. It is an essential requirement for a critical application with respect to safety that no hazardous states are assumed.
The invention also provides an arrangement for controlling a complete process that comprises a number of individual processes, a processor unit being provided which is set up in such a manner that functionalities of the individual processes can be identified. Furthermore, a validation can be performed by automatically verifying an interplay of the functionalities in accordance with an input to the complete process to the effect that each individual process is not impeded during the operation. Finally, the data resulting from the result of the validation can be used for controlling the complete process.
This arrangement is particularly suitable for carrying out the method according to the invention or one of its further developments explained above.